Yesterday I spoke of credit and responsibility. Let me offer some thoughts to my pastor friends who may read this.
Pastors. We live on good will. When you lose the good will of the people, you are toast, you are done. Stick a fork in it. You can make every excuse in the world, but we have the ability to create positive, hope filled relationships, or to lose them.
Don't react to unhappiness in the flock. Love them. They are good folks. It will all come around. If you act like something is wrong, people will feed on that. If you tell them that everything is ok, they will relax. Show them faith. Show them trust and love.
Don't ever take credit. Give credit to staff or leaders. If you need the credit, there is something wrong in your heart. let others receive the accolades. It never sounds quite right when someone is blowing their own horn.
Take responsibility. If something is going poorly in the church, whose responsibility is it if it isn't yours? Problems flow uphill. Accept responsibility. Never sacrifice a staff person or a leader when a problem occurs. Take responsibility for the problem, even if it isn't yours. You will save the staff person or the leader, and in time, everyone will figure out what really happened.
Get your ego out of the way. The important thing is the ministry of Jesus Christ. He learned a great deal thru the things that he suffered.
Look past the unhappiness. See the good. Outlive the problem of today so that you can live to be a part of tomorrow's ministry. It sounds odd, but taking credit will ruin your reputation with people. Taking responsibility will help you gain their trust. People hate it when you are all about you and they love it when someone steps in to solve a problem, especially if someone else created it.
It's a beautiful day in God's world, be sure to see the good.
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